Author: The Cross

Behold. Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. Isaiah 17:1 This article is republished with permission from The Generator. The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the unanimous view of the editorial board of The Westender. The Cross is cranky that we are stuck in the debates of last century. Atheists justify their godlessness to the faithful. Deep ecologists argue for a less anthropocentric morality in a society that worships money. Capitalists argue for economic growth in an age of constrained resources. We need to move past god and past materialism...

“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak: but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.” I Corinthians 34 The misogyny of the christian churches is yet another reason that governments should not keep pouring money into these corrupt institutions, strengthening their grip at the core of society. We must speak out. The Cross was cranky last week that the Qld Government released a tender for a domestic violence shelter designed so that only the major Catholic organisation on the very short list of...

And he taught them, saying, “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? But you have made it a den of thieves.” While The Cross is relieved at the reduction in hate speak with the demise of the Abbot clown show it is hard not to miss the steady flow of quotable quotes from the fundamentalist loonies who claim to speak on behalf of ‘right thinking’ or ‘god fearing’ ‘Australians’. One stream of thought that has completely disappeared in the glare of innovation and inclusion is the ranting by the puppets...

After weeks of qualifying our criticism of the christian Church, The Cross was gratified to see Geoffrey Robinson use his final public appearances to out the Church for its criminal negligence on sexual abuse. “If we are not looking for causes we are not serious,” he stated calmly before identifying “obligatory chastity” as a good place to start. “I don’t think that chastity is necessarily a cause of abuse,” he speaks from personal experience, “but I think compulsory chastity probably is.” He also identified the masculine nature of the institution as a major problem. “It is unhealthy. …...

The frurore in the Australian Senate surrounding Larissa Waters question to George Brandis regarding his government’s response to the Pope’s encyclical on Climate Change is confected nonsense, but rich with layers of irony and hypocrisy: particular favourites of The Cross. Firstly, the Government’s high dudgeon over reference to its religious make-up. To be clear, Senator Brandis, representing Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the Senate said “your reference to the religious beliefs of other members of this parliament is disgusting” in his direct answer to Senator Water’s question. This is the same government that boasts its religious make-up when it...